Theodicy
by Azdoine
Summary: It has been 15 years since the fall of Soul Society, since the cycle of reincarnation was broken. In a world where Fullbringers fight a desperate battle against the Grimm, the Hollows that plague society, Ichigo Kurosaki is too valuable for Clark Ozpin to ignore. Bleach/RWBY/Multicross, strong AU elements. [ABANDONED]
1. Chapter 1

"' _If God made everything, did He make the Devil?'_

" _This is the kind of embarrassing question which any child can ask before breakfast, and for which no neat and handy formula is provided in the Parents' Manual…Later in life, however, the problem of time and the problem of evil become desperately urgent, and it is useless to tell us to run away and play and that we shall understand when we are older. The world has grown hoary, and the questions are still unanswered."_

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki was quick in arriving in the waking world, rapidly dragging himself through the sleep-sands of ashen tired shores into the sharp and cold ocean of reality - a welcome distraction from long-off nightmares. He immediately pulled himself out of bed, wiping away the cold sweat upon his brow and checking the clock for the time to make sure that he had waken up on time.

He had, thankfully.

His bedroom wasn't a bad room, not by any account. His computer was currently turned off and gathering dust, as opposed to the bookshelves which lined the walls, each shelf two layers deep and thick with books of a thousand types. Nonfiction and fiction alike - and each shelf bearing at least one book which was too dog-eared to be read even more one time.

The dog-eared books were as much a sign of frequent power outages as the wind-up clock on the bedside. A sign of the times when he would have been stranded and empty, without the creature comforts of the things that did not plug into the walls, because he was too confused about his place in things to eke out meaning without escapism.

He sighed, rubbing the sandman's sleep-dust away from his eyes. Some part of him thankfully noted that his father had yet to approach, and wake him up in his typical bombastic manner...

But that was when Ichigo heard a horrible noise. The sound of a fully-grown man charging up the stairs and towards Ichigo's room. With a _slam_ , Ichigo's door flew open and Isshin Kurosaki, his father, charged in and aimed a kick for Ichigo's face. Ichigo - sighing and feeling quite put upon - retaliated with a quick and harsh punch to his father's face, knocking the man back and into the floor with the sound of flesh against flesh and then a dull _thump_.

"What have I told you about waking me up like that!?" Ichigo growled out as he slammed a foot of his own into Isshin's face. Such gratuitous violence would have been anathema to another family, but Ichigo had long ago figured out that Isshin never actually _got hurt_ by anything that Ichigo could do.

 _Why_ that was, Ichigo had no clue, but it was an unspoken secret between him and his father. The old man was probably a Fullbringer, or something.

Isshin groaned before leaping to the balls of his feet in a single jump.

"Not to do it?" He said, almost meekly, before flashing Ichigo a beaming smile. The voice which should have been nasally and shattered was full and healthy as always.

"That's right," Ichigo began. "I told you _not to do it_. So don't do it."

Isshin frowned, looking absolutely heartbroken. Then he started screaming again, over the top and over the edge. "BUT ICHIGO, IF I DON'T BEAT YOU UP, HOW WILL YOU EVER BUILD CHARACTER!?"

"Can it, old man, Karin and Yuzu are still sleeping."

Isshin scowled almost as deeply as Ichigo was.

"Using my darling daughters against me? That's _low_ , Ichigo."

"Yeah, well, if you play dirty then so will I."

Isshin stared into Ichigo's eyes for several moments before bursting out into laughter, smiling and clapping Ichigo on the shoulder, so hard that Ichigo nearly buckled to the floor.

"Fair enough, Ichigo! I'll go get started on breakfast."

Slowly, Ichigo peeled himself out of his room, and made his way to the bathroom where he began preparing for the day.

* * *

The television was already glaring and blaring in the living room by the time Ichigo had donned his school clothes. Yuzu and Karin were both watching it uneasily, and Ichigo's eyes hardened unconsciously at the sight of their distress.

"The incident occurred just outside of Karakura station, just after 7:30, as the morning commute was getting into full swing. The Hollow incursion was one of the bloodiest in months, claiming twenty-six victims before the Sentai were able to arrive and put the marauders down…"

On the television screen, a number of humans were grappling with invisible, distorted, bloodstained shapes in the air. One of them - a regal looking man in suspenders and wielding a katana - slashed through the air so violently that the shapes were thrown back, collapsing into the buildings behind them.

Several bloody bodies on the ground in the field of vision of the camera were obscured completely by grainy mosaics.

"Property damage was minimal, and mitigated by Fullbring, but the district will be recovering for months. The entire area has been cordoned off, and is under investigation as a possible weakness in the Barriers…"

Ichigo felt his heart sinking at the thought - perish the thought - of all of that misery and destruction. All too easily - because why should it have been hard? - he walked over and shut the television off with a _click_ and a frown.

"Come on, girls, let's think about something more cheerful, shall we?"

Yuzu was almost in tears. She clung to Ichigo like he was her lifeline, like she wanted a hug but she was too scared and vulnerable to accept one.

"It's not right." She whispered as Ichigo coaxed her over to the table in the kitchen.

"I know." Ichigo said gently.

"We should be helping." She maintained.

"Just because we can see spirits, doesn't mean we have any powers." Karin said bitterly. "We're no help at all."

That wasn't Ichigo's primary concern, of course. He couldn't bear to think of his sisters going out and fighting Hollows. He couldn't even imagine _himself_ going out and fighting Hollows, because that was just too dangerous. He would fight monsters to protect his family, but no-one else.

Ichigo had always sort of been the one who picked up the slack to help his sisters out. Their father was always gone, working or otherwise, and even when he _was_ present he could always be a tiny bit emotionally distant. None of them missed how quick he was to put on a beaming, cheesy and fake grin even when he wanted nothing more than to cry over the neglected photo albums of Masaki Kurosaki. So it fell down to Ichigo - he was the one who went to all of Karin's soccer matches, and walked his sisters home from school at the end of the day. He was the one who tucked them in most nights. And yeah, he couldn't give them a mother figure or anything, because he was their older _brother_ , but he filled in everywhere else, and filled in where he could.

"Do you know where Dad went?" Ichigo wondered, surveying the pile of pancakes on the table. Karin shrugged.

"Said he had an early meeting for his clinic." She said, still in her categorical funk. "With another doctor. Said he would be late coming back tonight, too."

Ichigo sighed. "Figures."

The breakfast swept by in a flurry of too much syrup and butter, before Karin leaned back and hiccuped loudly, then burped. The perfect storm of uncomfortable noises.

"Karin!" Yuzu screamed, scandalized.

"Sorry, not sorry." Karin said grouchily, staring out the window. Ichigo allowed himself to raise an eyebrow, getting up to wash off his plate and put it in the dishwasher.

"Are you okay, Karin?" He asked carefully, picking up his backpack and getting ready for school. Some part of him noted that he still had to brush his teeth,

"I'm fine, bro." She said dully. "Go and get to school. We'll head out and catch our bus on time."

"Pinkie promise?" Ichigo asked with a smile.

"Pinkie promise." Karin agreed, finally grinning for the first time all morning.

Ichigo couldn't even see his sisters as he left the house, running down the sidewalk at a steady clip, but he could almost feel them nonetheless, the same way one magnet might feel two others.

* * *

"Ichigo!" Someone crowed from behind him, catching up at their own breakneck pace. He turned around, coming to face someone quite familiar.

"Heeey, Tats." He said, eying the toast that his old friend, Tatsuki Arisawa, held in her mouth. "I thought that only happened in manga and anime."

She took the toast out of her mouth, and then slugged him with her free hand. "Shut up! It's not my fault I woke up late."

"Oh, did your alarm clock break down?" Ichigo asked teasingly.

"I deny everything." Tatsuki replied. "Come on, we need to get going. We're going to be late for our mandatory homeroom class, and you know how Miss Ochi gets about that."

"Don't remind me!" Ichigo replied, picking up his pace nonetheless.

These days, there were more important things than going to school - so much so that many classes had become completely voluntary, just because so many students had other things to attend to. But some classes couldn't be skipped - like the classes where you had information on engineering shoved down your throat. The state wanted as many people who could put infrastructure back together as possible.

"Ichigo, you're slowing down again." Tatsuki said, outpacing him easily.

"Sorry." He shot back. "I'm just too busy thinking. Head in the clouds, and all of that."

All around them, the multichromatic crackle of Fullbring rung out like bells and thunder and lightning, as Fullbringers went to work in construction - coaxing matter into new shapes and forms, building more housing. Elites, paid to work by more elites, each Fullbringer equal to squads of mundane laborers.

"You're such a nerd." Tatsuki snubbed him. "Nerd."

"Shut up, Tats."

Sometimes Ichigo wished that _he_ was a Fullbringer, but that obviously could never happen. He hadn't been born with the potential. And that was probably for the best - because it was the rare Fullbringer who was able to scrape by without being recruited into the war effort.

 _Ah, but maybe you are a Fullbringer,_ a sneaky voice in his mind whispered. _You can see spirits, after all. That means_ something _, doesn't it?_

It meant nothing, though.

"No, seriously, you know I don't mean anything by it?" Tatsuki said, throwing her arm around Ichigo's shoulders.

"I know, Tats-" Ichigo began, only to be interrupted by a sickening _crunch_ from behind them. Ichigo turned around, taking in the horrible sight without even a gasp, and he all but grabbed Tatsuki in his arms, taking off at the fastest clip he could take.

"What the hell!?" Tatsuki sputtered. But her shock and horror at Ichigo was short-lived, because she saw _it_. The invisible, roaring shape crushing through the air behind them, shattering bodies underfoot. It roared, it's claws (or _extremities_ at any rate) kicking up a truck and hurling it down the street.

"Holy _shit_." She screamed in horror. "Ichigo, put me down! I can run on my own, you idiot!"

"S-sorry!" He replied. For a moment, he was about to do so, but then a line of destructive flashing red light burst through the air right next to them.

"Oh _fuck_."

Ichigo set Tatsuki down as quickly as he could, dragging her away from what could only have been a Hollow, ducking around a corner and hiding.

"What the hell is going on?" He whispered in terror. "A second Hollow attack in as many days!?"

Ichigo was already pulling out his phone, calling emergency services, but there was no guarantee that the signal would escape from the Hollow's spiritual pressure. If they were lucky, they were already far enough away.

"Come on, Ichigo!" Tatsuki cried. "We have to keep moving!"

The spiritual pressure was nearly overpowering, but he staggered after her, making like he had been taught in drills from childhood, and found that in the haze of his own adrenaline he was quickly recovering against the oppressive sensation of the Hollow. His lungs gasping for air faster than should have been possible, his legs hitting the pavement with equal celerity.

A second before it would have been too late, he dragged Tatsuki to the ground, and then another lance of hellish and otherworldly red light punched through the air where they had just been. Ichigo would have felt his skin burn if he could have.

"Come on!" Ichigo managed to say through the shock. "We need to get to shelter! The subway system - the corridors are smaller than the Hollow seems to be-"

Another flash.

Together, Ichigo and Tatsuki stumbled into each other, running as fast as their feet could take them, hurrying into the underground. Yet as soon as they got there, there was another distortion in the air before them, as if a door was opening in space, as if space itself was being pulled away like wallpaper.

Ichigo, unlike Tatsuki, was fully able to see the _thing_ before them, neither human nor angel nor crawling thing, but some Hollow composite of black flesh in a form not unlike any of those things.

And Ichigo felt despair.

( _the sight of rain, and shattering skyscrapers amongst the blue of skies and oceans-_ )

( _rain rain rain_ )

( _ **unacceptable**_ )

It was if the world was falling into slow motion, and Ichigo was acting faster than he was even capable of acting. In the end, it was more like he was remembering himself act then even consciously acting.

Ichigo drew a massive cleaver from his own body, as if it had been planted in his gut. And even though it should have been heavier than God and the Devil, he swung it through the air as if it was no burden at all. The roaring red baleful light which the Hollow was creating was literally bisected out of the air by Ichigo's swings, and then the Hollow itself was split down too, severed in two from head to toe. Shattered.

Ichigo looked dumbly at the blade, feeling mind-boggled, shocked.

"Ichigo!?" Tatsuki said, almost breathing out instead of speaking. "You…"

Suddenly, the pain from where the Cero had grazed him seemed almost unbearable, even though moments ago it had been nonexistent. He suppressed the urge to vomit, just barely.

And then he failed, leaning over and puking up his pancake breakfast. Just in time for the Sentai to arrive, in flashes of green and blue-white and red and all the colors that Fullbring could call up.

"What the hell happened here?" Shukuro Tsukishima asked, rushing forward and being carried forth by the air and the concrete flooring. Ichigo just barfed again.

"I don't know." Tatsuki murmured. And then the shock hit _her_ , too and she keeled over and barfed.

The man quickly leapt towards them in a jade crackle of light, grabbing the two of them in hands which glowed a hale green.

"Ginjo! Take watch for the Hollows!" He barked, even as Ichigo felt his wounds begin to heal under the light. "Hey, boy, did you kill this one?"

The Hollow was already fast fading away, but still visible to Ichigo's eyes.

"I don't know." Ichigo said. The man snapped his fingers.

"Hey, you're fading in and out. Hey!"

Ichigo blinked groggily.

"Yeah, that's it. Stay with me. Come on, here-"

The ground seemed to lift up underneath him, taking the form of a chair in which Ichigo was lowered softly.

"I don't know what I did." Ichigo muttered. "I just… just… _acted_ …"

"Hey, it's okay." The man said, prying the cleaver from Ichigo's hands and examining it curiously before putting it aside. "You did good."

Another Fullbringer - a woman - was attending to Tatsuki.

And Ginjo Kugo flickered back in. "Nothing more, Tsukishima! The Hollows are gone!"

Tsukishima gritted his teeth visibly. "Damn it all. Call Ozpin, this is way above our pay grade."

* * *

" _Job is an optimist. He shakes the pillars of the world and strikes insanely at the heavens; he lashes the stars, but it is not to silence them; it is to make them speak."_


	2. Chapter 2

The hospital wasn't such a bad place, all in all. Ichigo was looked over by dozens of hot nurses, who were all discrete enough not to comment on the giant cleaver he was carrying with him. Bored and heartsick from his own confusion, he tapped his feet up and down and tapped his fingers against his legs. Thoughts tumbled through his mind, one after another - what was he? What had he done? How had he done it?

 _You're a Fullbringer_ , a sneaky voice whispered in Ichigo's ear. _How else can you explain your supernatural powers? It only makes sense, with your ability to see spirits._

Ichigo ignored that possibility completely, twitching and looking around like a man possessed. Finally, his prayers were answered, when two men walked in the door to his room in the hospital. One wore a deep green suit, so green it was practically black, along with spectacles and a lighter green undershirt. His tousled grey hair hung over his thin face. The other figure was much more familiar, with grim stubble and short dark hair.

"Dad!" Ichigo exclaimed, trying to pull himself out of bed. The old man strode over so fast he nearly blurred out of vision, settling Ichigo back down.

"Careful, son," he said. "You got pretty badly hurt."

"Dad, I'm fine," Ichigo scoffed. "You've hurt me worse when you try to punch me out, you know."

Isshin smirked, clearing the worry-lines carved into his face. But then the other man cleared his throat, getting Ichigo's attention.

"Who's this, Dad?" He asked curiously, feeling slightly uneasy under the gaze of the stranger.

"Ozpin," the stranger - Ozpin - said. "Professor Ozpin, technically, or Doctor Ozpin, but just Ozpin is more then fine." He smiled thinly, disarmingly.

"Ichigo, this man is here to talk to you about some things," Isshin said weakly. Ichigo shrugged, feeling so antsy that he was ready to accept almost any distraction.

"Hit me," Ichigo said easily. Isshin sighed.

"Mister Kurosaki." Ozpin began, his serious demeanor at odds with the lack of formality regarding his own title. "Has your father told you much about your family history?"

"Nothing supernatural, if that's where you're going with this," Ichigo connected the dots. "But I'm pretty sure that Dad is a Fullbringer."

Isshin winced.

"Okay." Ozpin mused. "In that case, I think this is your turn to step in, Isshin."

Isshin coughed awkwardly. "Well, rip the band-aid off all at once, I suppose. Ichigo, your mother was a Quincy."

Ichigo nearly swallowed his own tongue.

"Mom!? She was- she was what?"

 _Mom was a Quincy?_

These days, Quincies were practically royalty, for being some of the most efficient and powerful Hollow-slayers in existence, but also being rarer than eclipses. There were only one or two families left.

Some people would look at Ichigo like a prince, and the thought made him snarl.

"She was a Quincy," Isshin confirmed, picking up the cleaver that Ichigo had created. "As are you."

Ichigo felt a crawling sensation swoop all up and down his spine. "No. You… you're kidding. I'm not a Quincy."

"You are a Quincy," Isshin repeated. "You created this sword out of spirit particles. That's quintessentially Quincy. I thought that her gift hadn't been passed down… but it has. It lives on in you."

Ichigo felt as if he was standing on a precipice, falling and falling face down, staring his own doom in the face.

"I…" He began. "Ozpin, you want me to fight, don't you?"

"Yes." Ozpin said in clipped, reserved, sad tones.

"I'm sorry, but that's crazy. I don't even know how I did this - and I don't have any formal training-"

Ozpin leapt forward, his cane in hand, swinging it down to brain Ichigo completely. Ichigo, acting on pure instinct, dodged and batted the weapon away, grappling on the bedstand for the lamp and throwing it at Ozpin.

There was a queer sort of grey-green flicker, and then the room was reset, as if it had never happened. Ozpin shrugged.

"You can certainly handle yourself in a fight. You father trained you well."

"Trained!?" Ichigo gasped for air. "No. No. That's ridiculous. Dad, you weren't…"

Isshin looked utterly guilty.

"You _didn't_." Ichigo whispered. "You - all of your crazy attacks at all hours - I thought it was a game-"

"I wanted you to be able to protect Karin and Yuzu." Isshin said hollowly. "I didn't think you would ever be able to protect them from Hollows, or even need to protect them from Hollows."

Ichigo's whole world had been ripped out from under him.

"This is crazy," He maintained, looking at the sword in Isshin's hands as if it were some alien artifact. "I'm not going out to fight for you, Ozpin."

"Do you know why the Hollows came for you?" Ozpin asked. "It's because they could sense that you're a Quincy. They see you as a threat. Every time the barriers that keep Hollows out fall, you're going to put everyone around you in danger. You _need_ training in controlling your own power."

Ichigo frowned. "Dad?"

"It's true," Isshin said. "I would help you if I could, but I'm not a Quincy. You need the kind of training that Ozpin has to offer."

Shame spiked through Ichigo at the clear truth laid out before him.

"How… how long do I have to say goodbye to Karin and Yuzu?" He asked quietly.

"As long as you're willing to stay," Ozpin said gently. "I'm willing to offer you a position in my school whenever you're ready."

He pushed forward a business card, only heightening the tensions in Ichigo's body. _Beacon Academy_.

Another one of the intensely multicultural establishments which had been set up in the wake of the Collapse; as soon as the Hollows had started attacking in Japan, Fullbringers and supernaturally aware people from all over the world had flocked to a single cause in droves, joining forces to patrol the location from which countless monsters were spreading. The revelation of a greater threat facing humanity had quashed international tensions almost overnight.

"We're one of the centers of recruitment and training for spiritual warriors," Ozpin said calmly. "Our barriers against Hollow attacks are stronger than almost anywhere else. You won't endanger us if you choose to come."

The emotional blackmail was palpable, but Ichigo knew he was bowing regardless.

"...give me a few hours to say goodbye." He whispered, desolate.

Ozpin nodded, turning to Isshin, whispering in the younger man's ear. Ichigo was only barely able to make the words out.

" _Does he know… the truth…"_

"Draw your own conclusions," Isshin replied. "Now leave my son in peace for one goddamn day."

As Ichigo's father spoke, he wept.

* * *

Ozpin pulled his phone out as he left the hospital, dialing numbers at a sedate pace. All around him, rain poured down in absolute buckets, drenching him from head to toe. Yet despite the onslaught of water, he didn't blink or think to hurry himself along.

"Kisuke." He murmured, as soon as the man on the other end of the phone had picked up. "I've found one of yours."

The man on the other end of the line groaned, sounding hung-over and high out of his own mind.

"This isn't April Fools, Ozpin."

"I'm not fooling," Ozpin declared. "I found a Soul Reaper."

The line went dead for several seconds, and then Kisuke spoke again. "Where did they get the Zan to stabilize their Chain of Fate?"

"They made it." Ozpin said. "They shaped a sword out of spirit particles with Quincy powers, and then they inserted their Inner Hollow to use as a Zan spirit."

Kisuke made a faint choking noise. "Are you… are you talking about Ichigo Kurosaki!?"

"It seems so."

Kisuke exhaled slowly, amazed beyond words. "I thought that the Kurosakis must have died in the Collapse… it figures that they've been alive this whole time. Canny bastards."

"Yes, quite canny," Ozpin muttered. "Listen. I want you to take up teaching again."

"No," Kisuke returned. "No way."

"It's critical, Kisuke," Ozpin said. "Mister Kurosaki needs training. He's going to figure out that he's no ordinary Quincy soon, and when the time comes, he needs to be ready. Hollow attacks are reaching a head; we may face a total breakdown of society soon."

"And teaching Kurosaki wouldn't do jack shit," Kisuke said gruffly. "Population growth outstripped our ability to train new Soul Reapers long ago; there aren't enough Reapers to kill all the Hollows and perform a Soul Burial on every single dead soul. We don't need _stronger_ Soul Reapers, we need _more_ Soul Reapers. And all we have these days are Fullbringers and Quincies."

"Let me and Ironwood worry about logistics," Ozpin said briskly. "There will be more Soul Reapers, count on it. More people who can perform Soul Burials. But right now, we need to fight the Hollows. The Horsemen are mustering their forces and getting ready to strike again, and I'm not sure we're going to be able to fight them off this time."

Kisuke was silent again for a time.

"Just forget it, Ozpin. Everything Gevurah worked for is dead and gone. Soul Society is beyond repair, and you know that the other afterlives are next. You can see it if you just look at Avalon and Elysium."

"Kisuke." Ozpin said sharply. "I would rather struggle until the end of time than give up, and I know that you did too, once upon a time. The cycle of reincarnation was _created_ , and that means it can be rebuilt."

Rebuilt. Such an exotic word, appealing to Kisuke's intuitions and desires to reconstruct the world.

"...give me 24 hours to sleep on it." Kisuke eventually replied. "Now shut up and let me think."

It was Kisuke, rather than Ozpin, who ended the call. Ozpin looked down at his phone, and sighed. But he moved on, strolling along in massive bursts of green lightning, and then he dialed another number.

"James. How is Project Noumenon progressing?"

He listened quietly to the speaker at the other end of the line, and he smiled thinly.

"I'm... glad."


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, and he knew it.

That was how he knew he was dreaming, after all. In the dream, the sun kissed his skin like the touch of a lover, alongside the gently blowing cool wind of mid-day. As if he was flying through the air unaided, instead of in an airship.

Yet he stood upon solid earth - or rather, atop a steely and rugged sort of skyscraper. All around him, buildings of grey iron and deep blue mirrored glass erupted from the earth like monuments to civilization. Yet where he might have expected the roads to be - in the gaps and cracks between the buildings - there was only verdant, verdigris growth. Gardens, trees, vines, crawling up the faces of the otherwise-pristine skyscrapers like they were reaching to the sky and raging against the heavens.

It was like sonder captured in a moment, looking at the buildings below and trying to find what was inside. Trying to listen to the urban edifice, swallowed up by viridian decay, and figure out what it had to say.

Once, when Ichigo had been younger, he had considered himself something of an urban explorer. He had tried to go running beyond the walls of the citadel which was his home, barred against Hollows. And nothing supernatural had happened to him, even. He hadn't been attacked by a Hollow while he was gone.

Instead, he'd managed to break his ankle upon the debris of broken buildings, between and betwixt copper pipe and concrete floor. And he'd lied there, in agony for hours and hours on end, before his dear father had come out and found him. And the impact of that event was like a hammer-struck scar in Ichigo's mind. A reminder that ruin and urban decay was dangerous and untrammeled in it's own way.

A reminder that his father only had so many family members to lose. A reminder that he was mortal too. A reminder.

In the face of all of that, in the light of that reminder, Ichigo just wanted to go. Wanted to escape the skyscraper he found himself upon. So he turned around to leave, ducking into the stairwell of the building he found himself in.

The building itself was even stranger than he had expected, the interior walls and corridors made mostly of exotic mirrored panels. Standing inside the mirrors, Ichigo felt like he might just fall into a yearning, yawning void of self-reference. Like he was inside some great tangled infinity.

And he came to another staircase, this one leading into another stairwell. And looking down the stairwell, he couldn't see the bottom.

"Hello, Ichigo."

Ichigo didn't let himself get scared by the sudden intrusion, largely because he was leaning over the stair railing, and didn't want to fall over into the abyss. So he swallowed his startled surprise, and turned around to face the speaker.

He was a tall, gaunt, lean sort of man, draped in a tattered cloak or coat as black as pitch and blood. Handsome and reserved, with quiet dignity. And Ichigo couldn't peer through the coat, but white ragged lapels peeked through the neck of the man's clothes. The man's face was distinguished, regal, high in the cheekbones. The stark and striking face of a king - in total anachronistic opposition to the modern orange sunglasses and unkempt stubble he wore.

"Cool." Ichigo said, in wonderment. "This is a _really_ cool dream, you know?"

"A dream, hm?" The man wondered. "I suppose we might call it that."

Ichigo leaned out over the railing again, looking down.

"But whether this is a dream or not, there are things you need to know, Ichigo." The man came over to the railing, leaning over the edge as well. "You don't know what you are. You don't know who have come before you. You don't know what's coming."

Ichigo felt a chill dash up his spine, but it wasn't as if he thought this was anything but a flight of fancy.

"Unfortunately, I don't know if I can tell you what's come before, because you don't have the context, and I doubt that I can tell you what you are. Even this is new to me."

"New to you?" Ichigo wondered. "And who are you, exactly?"

"Again, you don't have the context." The man said. "In some sense, this is a dream. In some sense, I'm you. But in another sense… I was once a conqueror. Once the kind of man mentioned in the same breath as Gilgamesh."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Ooookay then. Are you going to tell me that I'm the reincarnation of some big-wig warrior king, then?"

"Not reincarnation." The man said, amused. "Something like it, perhaps, but of course I can't prove that reincarnation exists for you. It's broken."

Ichigo opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "Reincarnation is broken."

"Yes." The man replied. "Do you know what Hollows are?"

"No?" Ichigo responded. "Just that they started emerging from the spiritual world at the same time as spiritual activity started increasing in general. At the same time as the so-called 'Collapse.' No-one knows, the science isn't out yet."

"There was a lot of knowledge lost, with the loss of the Soul Reapers, I imagine." The man replied. "With the loss of your father's race. They knew where Hollows came from. Everyone knew. The Quincies must still know, and most of the Fullbringers must know too, even if they aren't telling the world what's going on."

"I don't understand." Ichigo said questioningly. "What kind of fever dream is this?"

The man shrugged. "You'll understand soon, I imagine. But you should know this, if nothing else - there's going to be a reckoning. And I don't dare to tell you how I know, lest you choose not to trust me. You're going to need to learn to fight."

"I don't want to fight." Ichigo responded, breathless. "I want to learn how to control my spiritual presence, so I can go home to Karin and Yuzu."

And the man just looked _disappointed_. "They're going to need protecting, soon. Need someone to fight for them, in this reckoning. And moreover, you're going to need to protect yourself."

Ichigo looked at the man, and let the last of his reservations drop. "This isn't a dream, is it?"

"No." The man replied simply. "You _need_ to learn to fight. If nothing else, to save you and your family. If not to become a proactive fighter."

"But why!?" Ichigo asked, getting up. "What is this 'reckoning?'"

"Do you think," the man asked "that the Collapse will only happen once? Do you think that Hollows are the worst things in the spiritual ecosystem?"

The breath, such as it was, went out of Ichigo's lungs. "You… please, why can't you tell me more!?"

"Because you need to see it all for yourself." The man said. "And you will. In time."

The stranger's breath seemed to turn to fog in the air, despite the lack of a chill.

"It all comes down to spirit and self, in the end." The man said. "Even if I told you all that I know, it wouldn't mean anything, because intellectual understanding doesn't compare to the real and the visceral. Because you need to _do_ something before you can _know_ something."

Ichigo snorted. "You're not making sense, old man."

"That's only to be expected." The man said. "I barely even make sense to myself."

He turned to Ichigo, then, and placed his hand on Ichigo's forehead.

"Eh!?" Ichigo spluttered. "What are you doing-!?"

"You need to wake up." The man said. "In body, mind, and soul. So wake up, and borrow my vigil if you must."

* * *

"Sir! Sir!"

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open in surprise, and he all but leapt out of his seat on the airship.

"Sir!" One of the flight attendants said. "We've arrived at Beacon, you have to disembark!"

"Oh." Ichigo said dully. "Yeah, give me a moment."

He breathed deeply, in and out, his hands practically spasming. He'd managed to sleep on them, leaving them numb, and all he could do was flex them as hard as he could to wake them back up again.

Getting up out of his seat with a faltering motion, Ichigo leaned up into the luggage compartment overhead, retrieving his sword (all wrapped up in cloth) and his baggage, and then nodded goodbye to the employees of the ship.

Beacon was waiting.

* * *

Ruby was practically vibrating at hypersonic speeds as she climbed off of her airship with Yang, looking at the campus of Beacon. In truth, she was terrified - tripping out on anxieties and dreams of how everything could go completely wrong. Yet she could ignore her fears if she just focused on more tangible matters.

"Oh my _god_ , Yang! Look at all of this!" Ruby cooed, watching as yet more airships disgorged uncountable new students (new warriors) to Beacon. "That girl has a clad-type Fullbring, just like I do! That boy has a giant sword! That kid has a multimodal assault rifle-!"

Yang sighed, patting Ruby on the shoulder. "If that skimpy thing is a clad-type Fullbring, then I'm wearing a full bodysuit."

Ruby rolled her eyes, pulling her cloak around herself. "It's totally a clad-type Fullbring! I've gotten good at at sensing and figuring people's powers and weapons out. It's like… getting to know people from a distance!"

Yang sighed. "Ruby, you know that spiritual pressure sensing is a poor substitute for actual friendship."

"But Yang!" Ruby replied. "Why would I need friends when I have you?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You know I'm not always going to be here for you, Ruby."

"Uh-huh."

"And on that note." Yang looked down at her phone. "I've gotta go check with the admissions office, just to work some last-minute stuff out. Seriously, Ruby, make some friends while I'm gone?"

And then Yang was gone with a burst of Bringer's Light, and Ruby was all alone, even in the throng of the crowd which was fading from all around her.

"What- Yang!? Where am I supposed to gooo!?"

There were several footsteps approaching from behind her, and in her panic, Ruby didn't move to get out of the way until it was too late. She took a tumble along with the person behind her - who let out a decidedly masculine _oof_ of distant pain.

"Ah, fuck." The orange-haired boy behind her groaned (in English with a slight accent, like most people attending Beacon), extending a hand to help Ruby up. "I'm sorry about that."

Ruby just gasped as she turned around. "You're the boy with the massive sword!"

The orange-haired boy turned around, examining the blade on his back. "Yeah, I suppose I am. But seriously, let's get you on your feet-"

Ruby grabbed his hand, letting her be pulled up, and then walked around his body to examine the sword. "It feels interesting! I've never seen a sword like this before!"

"Um." The boy said strangely. "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Ruby Rose, pleased to meet you." Ruby muttered, staring intensely at the blade. "Does your sword have a name?"

Ichigo quirked an eyebrow, although Ruby didn't notice it. "Not… that I know of."

"What? That's too bad, every Fullbring is better with a name." Ruby replied. "Or is it just a weapon you made? I mean, I built my Crescent Rose, but it's not actually my Fullbring, do you know what I mean? It's just a gun. And a scythe. And stuff."

"It's just a weapon I made." The orange-haired boy said. At this point, he'd pulled out his own phone and was busy checking a map of the campus.

"Woah, that's awesome!" Ruby said, her silver eyes as vast as mirrors. "How did you make it?"

"I don't know." Ichigo admitted plainly. "I mean… it just kind of happened? It's a Quincy thing I barely understand."

Ruby gasped. "You're a _Quincy!?_ Awesome, my great-grandma was a Quincy. She never passed her powers down, but I still have her Quincy crosses. I added them to my Mom's cloak… and I'm rambling now, sorry."

Ichigo turned around, his thin smile turning a bit more real and corporeal. "That's really cool, Ruby."

"Yeah." Ruby said, feeling slightly proud. "Mom always said that grandma was a badass."

At those words, a new voice cut in. Only at a whisper, but still slicing through the dialogue like a knife.

"Gemischt bastards." A feminine, german-tinged voice seethed quietly, joining the conversation before anyone could blink. Ruby and Ichigo turned around to face the speaker. A pale girl, ashen and snowy of skin, hair, and eyes. Wearing white and silver and pale blue and blood-red. Shorter than Ruby, by all accounts. And looking as haughty and proud as a queen, with a five-pointed cross around her wrist.

"Did you say something?" Ruby asked, getting somewhat mad. Privately, she thought the newcomer had a rather punchable face.

"I didn't say anything to you, Gemischt." The girl said coldly. "But if the truth of what you are upsets you, Gemischt, then I suggest you go home and cry before Beacon gets too hard for you."

Ichigo blinked. "Okay, you have a chip on your shoulder. Come on, Ruby, let's get to the introduction seminar."

He beckoned Ruby away, but Ruby stared daggers at the new girl. "Who do you think you are!?"

"Oh, and you don't know?" The girl mused. "How typical."

"She's Weiss Schnee." Another female voice pitched in from behind Ichigo. "One of the last Echt Quincy in the world."

Ichigo seemed faintly amused as he turned around yet again to view the latest newcomer. A girl with light olive skin, orange eyes, and long black hair done up into a loose ponytail by a purple ribbon. Her hair was otherwise untouched, and the girl had plenty of spare purple ribbons all over her white, black, and purple quasi-Victorian getup. She carried a katana with a blunt, squat sort of zigzag shaped hilt at her side.

For a moment, Ruby thought that the girl had applied makeup around her eyes. But then she realized that the purple color was in fact the sign of perpetually poor sleep.

"At least someone knows who I am." Weiss Schnee said smugly.

"Yes, I know who you are." The black-haired girl said quietly, reserved. "A Schnee. A member of the same family rumored to have cooperated and conspired with Adolf Hitler's occult experiments during the Third Reich."

"WHAT!?" Weiss hissed. "How dare you!? Those rumors are completely unsubstantiated! And moreover, you have no right judging me for things I've never done!"

"Of course I don't judge you." The black-haired girl said. Ruby and Ichigo's heads ping-ponged back and forth as they watched the back-and-forth between the two new girls. "I can hardly judge you for your _family situation_ , Echt Quincy. If only you had the same sense."

If Weiss had cottoned on to her own hypocrisy, she didn't voice that fact, but her face was turning as red as the lining of her own jacket and as purple as the ribbons in the new girl's outfit. Words failed her, and she stomped off in an angry, incensed huff.

"Huh." Ichigo said quietly, turning to the black-haired girl. "Is that bit about the Nazis true?"

"Probably not." The girl admitted softly. "It's historically unsubstantiated. But the Schnee are currently corrupt in very real ways, with their ties to the contemporary German government, and if a popular conspiracy theory will get her to back off, then I'll lie."

"Well…" Ruby tapped her fingers together. "Thank you?"

"It's no problem." The girl said. And before Ichigo could chip in as well, the girl had vanished so seamlessly that there was no Bringer's Light to mark her passage.

"Oh come on." Ruby groaned. "Isn't anyone going to stick around?"

"I'll stay around." Ichigo offered. "You're a nice girl, and it's better to stick together, right? At least until we know where we're going?"

Ruby looked Ichigo up and down, not trying to glimpse his body but trying to root out the feel of his spiritual pressure.

"Alright." She said, and she smiled. "After you?"

"No, after you." Ichigo grinned.

"No, after you!"


	4. Chapter 4

Ichigo had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, and he knew it.

That was how he made the connection that he was dreaming, after all. In the dream, the sun kissed his skin like the touch of a lover, alongside the gently blowing cool wind of mid-day. As if he was flying through the air unaided, instead of in an airship.

Yet he stood upon solid earth - or rather, atop a steely and rugged sort of skyscraper. All around him, buildings of grey iron and deep blue mirrored glass erupted from the earth like monuments to civilization. Yet where he might have expected the roads to be - in the gaps and cracks between the buildings - there was only verdant, verdigris growth. Gardens, trees, vines, crawling up the faces of the otherwise-pristine skyscrapers like they were reaching to the sky and raging against the heavens.

It was like sonder captured in a moment, looking at the buildings below and trying to find what was inside. Trying to listen to the urban edifice, swallowed up by viridian decay, and figure out what it had to say.

Once, when Ichigo had been younger, he had considered himself something of an urban explorer. He had tried to go running beyond the walls of the citadel which was his home, barred against Hollows. And nothing supernatural had happened to him, even. He hadn't been attacked by a Hollow while he was gone.

Instead, he'd managed to break his ankle upon the debris of broken buildings, between and betwixt copper pipe and concrete floor. And he'd lied there, in agony for hours and hours on end, before his dear father had come out and found him. And the impact of that event was like a hammer-struck scar in Ichigo's mind. A reminder that ruin and urban decay was dangerous and untrammeled in it's own way.

A reminder that his father only had so many family members to lose. A reminder that he was mortal too. A reminder.

In the face of all of that, in the light of that reminder, Ichigo just wanted to go. Wanted to escape the skyscraper he found himself upon. So he turned around to leave, ducking into the stairwell of the building he found himself in.

The building itself was even stranger than he had expected, the interior walls and corridors made mostly of exotic mirrored panels. Standing inside the mirrors, Ichigo felt like he might just fall into a yearning, yawning void of self-reference. Like he was inside some great tangled infinity.

And he came to another staircase, this one leading into another stairwell. And looking down the stairwell, he couldn't see the bottom.

"Hello, Ichigo."

Ichigo didn't let himself get scared by the sudden intrusion, largely because he was leaning over the stair railing, and didn't want to fall over into the abyss. So he swallowed his startled surprise, and turned around to face the speaker.

He was a tall, gaunt, lean sort of man, draped in a tattered cloak or coat as black as pitch and blood. Handsome and reserved, with quiet dignity. And Ichigo couldn't peer through the coat, but white ragged lapels peeked through the neck of the man's clothes. The man's face was distinguished, regal, high in the cheekbones. The stark and striking face of a king - in total anachronistic opposition to the modern orange sunglasses and unkempt stubble he wore.

"Cool," Ichigo said, in wonderment. "This is a _really_ cool dream, you know?"

"A dream, hm?" The man questioned. "I suppose we might call it that."

Ichigo leaned out over the railing again, looking down.

"But whether this is a dream or not, there are things you need to know, Ichigo." The man came over to the railing, leaning over the edge as well. "You don't know what you are. You don't know who have come before you. You don't know what's coming."

Ichigo felt a chill dash up his bones, but it wasn't as if he thought this was anything but a flight of fancy.

"Unfortunately, I don't know if I can tell you what's come before, because you don't have the context, and I doubt that I can tell you what you are. Even this is new to me."

"New to you?" Ichigo asked. "And who are you, exactly?"

"Again, you don't have the context," The man said. "In some sense, this is a dream. In some sense, I'm you. But in another sense… I was once a conqueror. Once the kind of man mentioned in the same breath as Gilgamesh. I shaped Germanic history for decades, and prehistory for decades before that."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Ooookay then. Are you going to tell me that I'm the reincarnation of some big-wig warrior king, then?"

"Not reincarnation," The man said, amused. "Something like it, perhaps, but of course I can't prove that reincarnation exists for you. It's broken."

Ichigo opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "Reincarnation is broken."

"Yes," the man replied. "Do you know what Hollows are?"

"No?" Ichigo responded. "Just that they started emerging from the spiritual world at the same time as spiritual activity started increasing in general. At the same time as the so-called 'Collapse.' No-one knows, the science isn't out yet."

"There was a lot of knowledge lost, with the loss of the Soul Reapers, I imagine," The man replied. "With the loss of your father's race. They knew where Hollows came from. Everyone knew. The Quincies must still know, and most of the Fullbringers must know too, even if they aren't telling the world what's going on."

"I don't understand," Ichigo said questioningly. "What kind of fever dream is this?"

The man shrugged. "You'll understand soon, I imagine. But you should know this, if nothing else - there's going to be a reckoning. And I don't dare to tell you how I know, lest you choose not to trust me. You're going to need to learn to fight."

"I don't want to fight," Ichigo responded, breathless. "I want to learn how to control my spiritual presence, so I can go home to Karin and Yuzu."

And the man just looked _disappointed_. "They're going to need protecting, soon. Need someone to fight for them, in this reckoning. And moreover, you're going to need to protect yourself."

Ichigo looked at the man, and let the last of his reservations drop. "This isn't a dream, is it?"

"No," the man replied simply. "You _need_ to learn to fight. If nothing else, to save you and your family. If not to become a proactive fighter."

"But why!?" Ichigo asked, getting up. "What is this 'reckoning?'"

"Do you think," the man asked, "that the Collapse will only happen once? Do you think that Hollows are the worst things in the spiritual ecosystem?"

The breath, such as it was, went out of Ichigo's lungs. "You… please, why can't you tell me more!?"

"Because you need to see it all for yourself," the man said. "And you will. In time."

The stranger's breath seemed to turn to fog in the air, despite the lack of a chill.

"It all comes down to spirit and self, in the end," the man said. "Even if I told you all that I know, it wouldn't mean anything, because intellectual understanding doesn't compare to the real and the visceral. Because you need to _do_ something before you can _know_ something."

Ichigo snorted. "You're not making sense, old man."

"That's only to be expected," the man said. "I barely even make sense to myself."

He turned to Ichigo, then, and placed his hand on Ichigo's forehead.

"Eh!?" Ichigo spluttered. "What are you doing-!?"

"You need to wake up," the man said. "In body, mind, and soul. So wake up, and borrow my vigil if you must."

* * *

"Sir! Sir!"

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open in surprise, and he all but leapt out of his seat on the airship.

"Sir!" One of the flight attendants said. "We've arrived at Beacon, you have to disembark!"

"Oh," Ichigo said dully. "Yeah, give me a moment."

He breathed deeply, in and out, his hands practically spasming. He'd managed to sleep on them, leaving them numb, and all he could do was flex them as hard as he could to wake them back up again.

Getting up out of his seat with a faltering motion, Ichigo leaned up into the luggage compartment overhead, retrieving his sword (all wrapped up in cloth) and his baggage, and then nodded goodbye to the employees of the ship.

Beacon was waiting.

* * *

Ruby was practically vibrating at hypersonic speeds as she climbed off of her airship with Yang, looking at the campus of Beacon. In truth, she was terrified - tripping out on anxieties and dreams of how everything could go completely wrong. Yet she could ignore her fears if she just focused on more tangible matters.

"Oh my _god_ , Yang! Look at all of this!" Ruby cooed, watching as yet more airships disgorged uncountable new students (new warriors) to Beacon. "That girl has a clad-type Fullbring, just like I do! That boy has a giant sword! That kid has a multimodal assault rifle-!"

Yang sighed, patting Ruby on the shoulder. "If that skimpy thing is a clad-type Fullbring, then I'm wearing a full bodysuit."

Ruby rolled her eyes, pulling her cloak around herself. "It's totally a clad-type Fullbring! I've gotten good at at sensing and figuring people's powers and weapons out. It's like… getting to know people from a distance!"

Yang sighed. "Ruby, you know that spiritual pressure sensing is a poor substitute for actual friendship."

"But Yang!" Ruby replied. "Why would I need friends when I have you?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You know I'm not always going to be here for you, Ruby."

"Uh-huh."

"And on that note:" Yang looked down at her phone. "I've gotta go check with the admissions office, just to work some last-minute stuff out. Seriously, Ruby, make some friends while I'm gone?"

And then Yang was gone with a burst of Bringer's Light, and Ruby was all alone, even in the throng of the crowd which was fading from all around her.

"What- Yang!? Where am I supposed to gooo!?"

There were several footsteps approaching from behind her, and in her panic, Ruby didn't move to get out of the way until it was too late. She took a tumble along with the person behind her - who let out a decidedly masculine _oof_ of distant pain.

"Ah, fuck," the orange-haired boy behind her groaned (in English with a slight accent, like most people attending Beacon), extending a hand to help Ruby up. "I'm sorry about that."

Ruby just gasped as she turned around. "Woah, you're the boy with the massive sword!"

The orange-haired boy turned around, examining the blade on his back. "Yeah, I suppose I am. But seriously, let's get you on your feet-"

Ruby grabbed his hand, letting her be pulled up, and then walked around his body to examine the sword. "It feels interesting! I've never seen a sword like this before!"

"Um," the boy said strangely, bemused and also faintly creeped out. "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Ruby Rose, pleased to meet you," Ruby muttered, staring intensely at the blade. "Does your sword have a name?"

Ichigo quirked an eyebrow, although Ruby didn't notice it. "Not… that I know of."

"What? That's too bad, every Fullbring is better with a name," Ruby replied. "Or is it just a weapon you made? I mean, I built my Crescent Rose, but it's not actually my Fullbring, do you know what I mean? It's just a gun. And a scythe. And stuff."

"It's just a weapon I made," The orange-haired boy said. At this point, he'd pulled out his own phone and was busy checking a map of the campus.

"Woah, that's awesome!" Ruby said, her silver eyes as vast as mirrors. "How did you make it?"

"I don't know," Ichigo admitted plainly. "I mean… it just kind of happened? It's a Quincy thing I barely understand."

Ruby gasped. "You're a _Quincy!?_ Awesome, my great-grandma was a Quincy. She never passed her powers down, but I still have her Quincy crosses. I added them to my Mom's cloak… and I'm rambling now, sorry."

Ichigo turned around, his thin smile turning a bit more real and corporeal. "That's really cool, Ruby."

"Yeah," Ruby said, feeling slightly proud. "Mom always said that grandma was a badass."

At those words, a new voice cut in. Only at a whisper, but still slicing through the dialogue like a knife.

"Gemischt bastards," A feminine, German-tinged voice seethed quietly, joining the conversation before anyone could blink. Ruby and Ichigo turned around to face the speaker. She was a pale girl, ashen and snowy of skin, hair, and eyes. Wearing white and silver and pale blue and blood-red. Shorter than Ruby, by all accounts. And looking as haughty and proud as a queen, with a five-pointed cross around her wrist.

"Did you say something?" Ruby asked, getting somewhat mad. Privately, she thought the newcomer had a rather punchable face.

"I didn't say anything to you," The girl said coldly. "But if the truth of what you are upsets you, then I suggest you go home and cry before Beacon gets too hard for you."

Ichigo blinked. "Okay, you have a massive chip on your shoulder. Come on, Ruby, let's get to the introduction seminar."

He beckoned Ruby away, but Ruby stared daggers at the new girl. "Who do you think you are!?"

"Oh, and you don't know?" The girl mused. "How typical."

"She's Weiss Schnee," another female voice pitched in from behind Ichigo. "One of the last Echt Quincy in the world."

Ichigo seemed faintly fed up as he turned around yet again to view the latest newcomer. A girl with light olive skin, orange eyes, and long black hair done up into a loose ponytail by a purple ribbon. Her hair was otherwise untouched, and the girl had plenty of spare purple ribbons all over her white, black, and purple quasi-Victorian getup. She carried a katana with a blunt, squat sort of zigzag shaped hilt at her side.

For a moment, Ruby thought that the girl had applied makeup around her eyes. But then she realized that the purple color was in fact the sign of perpetually poor sleep.

"At least someone knows who I am," Weiss Schnee said smugly.

"Yes, I know who you are," the black-haired girl said quietly, reserved. "A Schnee. A member of the same family rumored to have cooperated and conspired with Adolf Hitler's occult experiments during the Third Reich."

"WHAT!?" Weiss screeched. "How dare you!? Those rumors are completely unsubstantiated! And moreover, you have no right judging me for things I've never done!"

"Of course I don't judge you," the black-haired girl said. Ruby and Ichigo's heads ping-ponged back and forth as they watched the back-and-forth between the two new girls. "I can hardly judge you for your _family situation_ , Echt Quincy. If only you had the same sense."

If Weiss had cottoned on to her own hypocrisy, she didn't voice that fact, but her face was turning as red as the lining of her own jacket and as purple as the ribbons in the new girl's outfit. Words failed her, and she stomped off in an angry, incensed huff.

"Huh," Ichigo said quietly, turning to the black-haired girl. "Is that bit about the Nazis true?"

"Probably not," The girl admitted softly, looking somewhat ashamed. "It's historically unsubstantiated. But the Schnee are currently corrupt in very real ways, with their ties to the contemporary German government, and if a popular conspiracy theory will get her to back off, then I'll lie."

"Well…" Ruby tapped her fingers together. "Thank you?"

"It's no problem," the girl said. And before Ichigo could chip in as well, she had vanished so seamlessly that there was no Bringer's Light to mark her passage.

"Oh come on," Ruby groaned. "Isn't anyone going to stick around?"

"I'll stay around," Ichigo offered. "You're a nice girl, and it's better to stick together, right? At least until we know where we're going?"

Ruby looked Ichigo up and down, not trying to glimpse his body but trying to root out the feel of his spiritual pressure.

"Alright," she said, and she smiled. "After you?"

"No, after you," Ichigo grinned.

"No, after you!"

Neither of them would ever quite remember which one of them had started laughing first, but it hardly mattered to begin with.


End file.
